Of cookies and lefse
And so the whirlwind weekend comes to a chilly close. My little kitchen hosted the demise of ten pounds of butter, fifteen cups of flour, endless vats of powdered sugar, ten oranges, and three cups of almonds. Each ingredient fulfilled its Christmas destiny by contributing to the baking of 220 cookies for the Mill City Museum Holiday Cookie Event and twenty lefse rounds for a TV demonstration. It was a weekend of baking, griddling, and talking to people about food. Here are some of my favorite snippets.
1. Meeting the woman who found my number "in the book" and called me at home last year to ask a question about how to properly bake a meringue cookie. I love living in a world where strangers can connect to talk about recipes.
2. Meeting and chatting with the other Star Tribune Holiday Cookie Contest finalists and the very first winner Sherryl Joos, and sharing the event with my friend (and the contest winner!) Dianne Sivald,
3. Mingling with Star Tribune Taste editor Lee Svitak Dean and restaurant critic and food writer Rick Nelson. Some people get giddy about meeting the likes of George Clooney. Personally, I am star struck when I am in the company of a good food writer. I'll take Lee and Rick over George every time.
4. Appearing on television to extol the merits of lefse. My inner Swede will always be ever so slightly envious of those Norwegians who have been rolling lefse rounds since they were toddlers, but hopefully after all these years of potato-flour-fat practice I represent our Scandi-club with a bit of Nordic cred.
5. The look on the kid's face who took a bite of an Orange-Almond Melting Moment and immediately started shaking his head "No! No!" It was a Buddy-the-Elf-drinking-his-first-cup-of-coffee moment, and I am still laughing.
1. Meeting the woman who found my number "in the book" and called me at home last year to ask a question about how to properly bake a meringue cookie. I love living in a world where strangers can connect to talk about recipes.
2. Meeting and chatting with the other Star Tribune Holiday Cookie Contest finalists and the very first winner Sherryl Joos, and sharing the event with my friend (and the contest winner!) Dianne Sivald,
3. Mingling with Star Tribune Taste editor Lee Svitak Dean and restaurant critic and food writer Rick Nelson. Some people get giddy about meeting the likes of George Clooney. Personally, I am star struck when I am in the company of a good food writer. I'll take Lee and Rick over George every time.
4. Appearing on television to extol the merits of lefse. My inner Swede will always be ever so slightly envious of those Norwegians who have been rolling lefse rounds since they were toddlers, but hopefully after all these years of potato-flour-fat practice I represent our Scandi-club with a bit of Nordic cred.
5. The look on the kid's face who took a bite of an Orange-Almond Melting Moment and immediately started shaking his head "No! No!" It was a Buddy-the-Elf-drinking-his-first-cup-of-coffee moment, and I am still laughing.
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